DMC drops plan for $50M Royal Oak facility

ROYAL OAK — The Detroit Medical Center has dropped its plan to build a $50 million outpatient facility at the city’s southern gateway.

The 4.4-acre site at Main Street and the I-696 service drive is considered one of the most desirable corners in Oakland County, but has been plagued by decades of developments that have fallen through because of the economy and the size of the parcel.

A year ago, DMC officials unveiled renderings of a three-story building for doctor offices and a free-standing emergency department. The project was expected to fill a need for pediatric specialty services, create 155 full-time jobs and add $1.1 million to Royal Oak’s tax base.

The project looked promising with the DMC talking to residents about traffic flow, ambulance sirens and how their security would be an asset to neighboring businesses and condo owners.

However, a real estate appraisal by the Downtown Development Authority, which owns the land, varied vastly from one by the DMC.

“It came back 50 percent higher than what we thought the property was worth,” said David Manardo, the DMC’s senior vice president of facility engineering and real estate.

Serious sales talks didn’t occur and no formal proposal was ever submitted to City Hall.

“We thought the location was good but the site was tight given what price came back,” Manardo said. “We’re not moving forward with that site. We’re looking a little further north in Oakland County.”

The DDA now is looking for new ideas for the land used for Detroit Zoo overflow parking and a staging area for events like the Lucky Dash and Arts, Beats & Eats.

He recommended Wednesday that the DDA put out a request for proposals for the land zoned for regional business uses.

“Everyone has been thinking this land is tied up with the DMC, but it’s not,” Thwing said. “We’ll see what proposals we get back.”

The land has been vacant about 20 years as plans for a hotel, offices, fitness center – once there was even talk of a casino – never coming to fruition. The DMC facility now joins the list. Mayor Jim Ellison said he isn’t surprised.

“I knew the longer it was stretched out it was probably dying on the vine,” he said. “We will start over again.”

The DMC is starting over, too, in search of six to eight acres of land for the project or an existing building it can re-purpose, said Luanne Ewald, the DMC’s vice president of business development.

“Last year we presented conceptual plans and once we put together real plans the property was too small,” Ewald said. “We’re still looking in a 10-mile radius.”